Dear Vishwanath,
The following conditions need to be considered for eligibility for payment of compensation under the Employees Compensation Act:
1. There should be an accident.
2. The accident should have resulted in a personal injury to the employee.
3. The accident should have happened in the course and out of employment.
In the case cited by you, none of the three conditions apply, so the question of compensation is ruled out.
For your information, I also cite the following that will be relevant to you (not applicable to the case cited by you):
There is also a Theory of Notional Extension in the Act that states if an employee is commuting to the place of work and dies, then it is deemed that he is in the course of employment. However, the mode of commute should be such that it was the only mode available, and the geographical location of the place was such that he could not have traveled by any other mode of transport.
Furthermore, there is a Personal Accident Policy (not statutory) that provides cover to employees not covered under the Employees Compensation Act. If the company covers its employees under the PA policy, the benefits are similar to the Employees Compensation Act. The difference is that the policy is payable by the respective Insurance Company instead of the Company itself. The unique feature of the PA policy is that it is 24 hours worldwide for any type of accident resulting in loss of earning capacity for the employee. For example, if an employee breaks his limb at home while climbing down stairs and experiences a loss of earning for a brief period, a Weekly benefit is payable to the employee, subject to 1% of the sum assured or a specified sum (approximately Rs. 3000 per week), whichever is lower. This policy ensures payment as stipulated above during the period the employee is on Loss of Pay due to the accident.
M.V. KANNAN